XENO MORPHES
by zero613bta
Summary: Dreams. They can be completely random or hold so many meanings that hundreds of people alone can barely decipher them let alone one. Manfred has had to deal with a dream that twist the realms of logic but always seemed to have something in common. A set of coordinates that he found out leads to a completely undiscovered alien world that may hold the key to a cure for his stepson.
1. prologue

**XENO MORPHEUS **

Dreams. They can be completely random or hold so many meanings that hundreds of people alone can barely decipher them let alone one. Manfred has had to deal with a dream that twist the realms of logic but always seemed to have something in common. A set of coordinates that he found out leads to a completely undiscovered alien world that may hold the key to a cure for his stepson, L'iviesss who is currently morphing into a xenomorph king. Will he discover something to help L'iviesss or will he uncover something that should have never been unearthed?

**Notes: **

this story takes place during the events of THE XENO WITHIN part 2. another story I'm currently working on.

Tell me what you think and I hope you enjoy it.

**Chapter 1: prologue.**

"I'm sorry Manfred but… there's nothing else we can do." Kroger said, his face was one of sorrow which seemed to unnerve Manfred to no end seeing how for years Kroger seemed to be nothing but a psycho. "The Treatment has lost its effect."

"How is that possible?" Manfred asked.

"it seems his body has built up an immunity to it and is even fighting back against it."

Manfred paced around the room feeling a rush of emotions as all his life he had tried to give L'iviesss a normal life but every solution was only temporary. "what about his memories?" Manfred chocked, hoping to any god if there was one that L'iviesss would never remember what they did to him.

"judging by his psychological report he is having vague dreams of events that he was a part of but aside from that L'iviesss doesn't know." Kroger let a long silence craw for what felt like hours which Manfred hated "but after he moults… only time will know."

"isn't there a backup treatment?"

Kroger just seemed to let out a bleach chuckle "that was the back up."

Manfred sat down feeling all hope leave his body. He pulled out his two lockets; one of Susan, one of veronica. "I'm sorry." He said under a barley audial exhale of sorrow.

"there might be a hope though." Kroger said hoping to try and lift Manfred hope from the dismal abyss it had fallen into. "your dreams."

Manfred felt like he had bin booted in the gut "that's all they are! Dreams and nothing else!"

Kroger just shook his head in disappointment "more like a message. You see during the earth infestation many people were suffering from this recurring dream."

"you mean the queen mother?" Manfred just burst out laughing "you're saying a queen mother is some how talking to me in my dreams from god knows were?"

"something is talking to you but it isn't a queen mother."

"what makes you say that?" Manfred scoffed.

"if it was a xenomorph trying to contact you then it would probably have more rapey undertone… but the dreams you describe suggest something more technologically advanced."

"why would advance race want to contact me?" Manfred enquired hoping that Kroger had some sort of answer.

"well you said it shows you pictures of L'iviesss as well as send you these coordinates which seem to lead to this planet that has somehow been completely mist by scanners before now." Kroger's old and withered face seemed to be having life rush back into it for some unknown reason.

"so, your saying are only hope to save Livis is to go to some unknown planet in the vague hope that whatever the fuck is trying to contact me will have something to help us?" Manfred enquired hoping that there was more to it than that.

"pretty much."

* * *

Duke burst into the Weyland-Yutani meeting room located on New Galveston which he had moved to, to get away and try to forget about the event that occurred on Serranoes. He wanted nothing to do with it.

"I see you have received are notice." The executive said passively.

"who the fuck do you think you are? Leave my wife out of what happened on Serranoes!" Duke growled with the ferocity of a storm.

"we will if you simply do as we ask." The executives stair was colder than frozen steel "o and before you threaten to sue us let me just remind you we have way more time, connections and resources than you ever will within a your entire family's life time."

"this is illegal!" duke scolded him; wanting nothing more than to beat him into a bloody pulp.

"as far as you are aware the contract is lore. Now you can either comply or we lock you and your wife away for a long time."

"corporate Basterds!"

"that's the name don't ware it out." The executive retorted with a smug smile on his face. "now you have been told were you need to go at what times now if you excuse me, I am very busy today."

Duke felt embarrassed to say but he felt helpless, the only time he probably felt this helpless was with that dam dream with the king on Serranoes; even now just thinking about it made a cold metallic claw dance over his spine and making the hairs of his arms spring to life.


	2. Chapter 1: one mission

**Chapter 1: one mission **

SYSTEM REBOOT…

THE IMPERIUM ONLINE.

TO: DR KROGER.

PROGRESSS REPORT.

DATE (2/8/XXXX)

TRANSMISSION (UNKNOWN)

…...

CRUW WILL BE WOKEN UP IN 4 HOURS.

ESTIMATED TRAVEL TIME TO XX-X9X AT CURRENT SPEED: 1 DAY.

MISSION:

TO GO TO XX-X9X AND FIND THE SOUCE OF IMPORTANT XXXXXXXXX.

RETREVE ANY SAMPLES OR REMAINS OF XXX AS WELL AS XXXX.

MAKE SURE ANY NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN THE MISON ARE INSTANTLLY TRANSMITED BACK TO KROGER (UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL SPEARS KNOW WHAT HAPPENS HERE.)

…

* * *

His dreams were not of the wicked vison but of something with more malice than those. They were his memory's. memories of how he found Susan with a noose tightly wrapped around her neck the same way it wrapped around his heart and pulled with enough strength to rip it out his ribcage. He remembers dropping to his knees wanting nothing more than to join her but L'iviesss needed him… veronica needed him and he wished she survived his berth because then he might have been able to give him a semblance of a normal life. But the thing that caused Susan's death wasn't cancer as he had told L'iviesss but of the video feeds from Serranoes, the massacred grunts feed as well as the construction site. the fact that a once innocent child she had spent so long lucking after turned out to be a murders cosmic beast pushed her to her very limits.

* * *

Cold, stiff, frozen, sick! Manfred quickly lunged forward, out of the coffin like cryo pod and sprayed the unrecognisable remains of whatever he ate last out of his mouth as well as god knows what else. The light seemed to burn his eyes, forcing him to squint for at least a minuet before finally seeing the white, metallic walls of the stasis room.

The moans of multiple grunts seemed to echo in Manfred mind as well as the odd relies of pressure from the unfeeling machinery.

"all right grunts, I want everyone up and atom!"

Some of the grunts let out an audible mown of annoyance while some quickly scrambled out of their beds and made their way to their lockers. Some seemed to hop or skip as if they were stepping on hot coal.

Manfred swung his legs over the side and made his way out of his chamber the same way a walrus would make its way out of the ocean and belly flop onto the ground. He got up off the floor and held onto the side of some machinery as his legs felt like a frozen jelly.

He recovered the best he could before finally making his way to his locker that had his name stuck on it with a sticker that was already starting to peel away. He pulled out his jump suit as well as two neckless. One of veronica and the other Susan. How he missed them both.

"hey Dallies, how was your luxury bed?" a marine with the name tag of duke shouted.

"my back feels like it's just been hit by a lead pipe." Dallies replied.

"just like the good old days ay?"

"OORAH."

After everyone was done getting dressed, they retreated to the mess hall. One side of the table seemed to be filled with marines that all new each other while the other was the people who were complete strangers. Manly Manfred, Dallis, Duke, Dutch, Garret, Burk and four others, one of them being the Sargent and the second being the corporal and the third being a Lieutenant.

"if you could wish for one thing right now what would it be?" Garret asked in an attempt to break the unconfutable silence.

"well aside from some decent food? Something that will bring feeling back into my body." Dutch chuckled.

"I have something that will bring feeling back." Burk replied.

Before Dutch could ask what, Burk had his fist plunging into his shoulder.

"son of a bitch!" Dutch growled as his arm pulsed with pain.

Burk and Garret seemed to laugh at Dutch's misfortune as they consumed what they think was a corn cob.

"so," Duke asked "who's here willingly and who's been forced to come along?"

"I'm here for that sweet salvage! I mean alien tech you can sell for millions as long as it's the right person and hey, if we're lucky we might get are names put in the history books." Dutch's reply seemed to get some of the heads nodding in agreement.

"why did you fraise the question like that?" garret enquired "are you not here willingly?"

Both Duke and dallis shot worried looks at each other "corporate cunts are holding my wife under imprisonment and told me if I didn't come along on whatever is happening on this mission then they will blame everything that happened on Serranoes on her."

"what did happen on Serranoes? I heard it was something to do with a bunch of cultists setting xenos free on the station and somehow dropping them off somewhere on Astronose."

Duke and Manfred's facial expression seemed to shift into one of sorrow (both for different reasons probably.)

Time seemed to fly and before Manfred new he was standing in front of around twenty-five marines, all of them looking directly at him.

"ok people by tomorrow we will be landing on a newly discovered planet. Are mission is to find a source of a transmission and salvage any alien tech we might come across."

"I'm guessing we are going to have to wear one of those bulky ass IRC compression suits?" Burk asked.

"sadly yes."

There was an a few groans that emanated from the crowed as well as the odd cures.

"what are the chances of encountering xenomorphs?" Dutch asked.

"well judging by the nature of the transmission, it probably 77%"

Dutch face seemed to twist into one of a scowl "so your saying were not only going to have to were this bulky ass restrictive suits but we may also have to deal with xenos? Fucking wonderful!"

"how's the gravity?" a marine from the back asked.

"shouldn't cause us troubles but it is a little stronger than earths." He quickly turned around and seemed to stare at the Lieutenant as if he was motioning him to do something.

The Lt quickly snapped himself out of what looked like a day dream and barked out orders "ok people! I want all weapons checked and ready for action in fifteen minutes. I want the dropship to be prepared and ready to drop in twenty. Is that under stood?"

"yes sir?"

"then stop sitting there and get to work!"

They all dispersed from the stack or crates that they had all gathered around. Some darted to the weapons Loacker while some hopped in power loaders and began to load the dropship's weapon system or dropping some ammunition in the payload bay. Two of the dropships pilots could be seen running diagnostics from within the cockpit through the tinted windows.

"So Manfred, is there anything you can do around here to help or are you just going to stand there and look pretty?" Dutch chuckled to him, as he got into a power loader, pulling down the straps and bringing the goliath of a machine to life as to yellow light began to flash like the power that flowed through it weird veins.

"unless someone cuts there finger our brakes a bone then I can't really do anything." Manfred replied in a humorous tone.

"doctor hay? Well maybe you can go help Jeremy with whatever he's currently doing in his lab right now. Maybe you two can become best of friends."

"can you tell me where it is?"

"just follow the red lines down that corridor."

Manfred nodded his head at him before leaving the loading bay. He followed the red lines similar to when he was a kid on a treasure hunt with his dad. The Imperium still seemed to smell of new paint and machinery seeing how recently constructed this was. It was a major improvement to the Conestoga class with improved engines, weapons, armour anything that was worth a dam was improved turning into one badass of a ship. Very few weapons could bring this babe down and if they could they would have to pack enough punch to blow a small hole through a large asteroid made of diamonds or be something only an ancient alien race could build with the advance technology.

He turned a corner were a window could be seen with a single being present in the brightly lit, sterile room on the other side. Manfred pressed the button on the side of the door which opened up with a pressurized hiss. Jeremy head shot towards him with a blank expression on his face, he just seemed to stare at him for a second as if he was scanning him before a artificial smile crept across his face.

"good morning mister Deimos." Jeremy said.

"could you just call me Manfred."

"as you wish." His head shot back to the table where he looked like he was making sure all the medical supplies were in order and ready for use.

"do you need any help?" Manfred politely asked, leaning up against the piped wall.

"I am quite fine on my own, thank you." Jeremy response felt dry with absolutely no emotion to it.

"are you an android?"

"yes." Jeremy replied. "I noticed you have two lockets around you neck. Loved ones I presume?"

Manfred felt his face stiffen a little as his questioned seemed to strike a not so fully wound "yes." He choked.

"dead I presume... You know my secondary function aside from field medic is phycologist. Do you need any emotional support?"

"no thanks."

"are you sure?"

"I dealt with my pain a long time ago." Manfred's statement was only half true.

The android nodded his head and continued with what he was doing.

"do you need help carrying all this to the dropship?"

"yes."

Manfred stood there for a moment before the android handed him two medium sized crates. He followed the android and helped him place the boxes of medical supplies in the payload bay. The low orchestra of the engines could be heard over the almost defining grown of machinery. Manfred sat in one of the seats inside the cockpit and by some miracle allowed his mind to slip off into the vast consciousness of sleep.

* * *

Strange, Colossal, biomechanical structures seemed to surround him. Roaring winds seemed to cover his surroundings in a thick layer of rock, dust and derby that sang no scream their angers as they were ripped from their settled position. He could feel it biting deep into his skin, crating deep lacerations that seemed to cry blood. Figures seemed to shift. Some human, some animalistic in nature. The sound of some sort of ancient fog horn seems to blast some of the obscuring winds away were a huge tower seems to hang over him like some sort of Lovecraftian god. Manfred fell to his knees in pure shock and aw. "what are you?" he bellowed but it seemed his voice was quickly ripped from the air and scattered to the four-fucking wind. As if in response a blinding yellow light seemed to beam down like an angel from god! he feels weightless for a second and before he realized it, he was in front of the being that seemed to plague his mind. it raises its hand up towards a statue of a xenomorph king, and it isn't just any king. Its L'iviesss! "what do you want with him?"

"are you ok?" one of the pilots asked Manfred snapping him out of his strange vison that had been burrowed deep into his mind.

"I'm fine." Manfred found that he had been placed on the ground with everything in the surrounding area cleared. Jeremy seemed to hang over him with a small but powerful flash light stabbing directly into the retune of his eye.

"do you suffer from sizers Manfred?" the android enquired.

"no why?"

"because you started to convulse like a fish out of water." the second piolet responded.

"it's just this dream I have been having." He let out a breath of frustrated relief. "Don't worry about it."

"the hell kind of dreams do you have?"

"it's nothing."

He got up and left for his quarters were he quickly locked the door and headed for his terminal. He opened his messages to find that Kroger had scent one around two weeks ago.

…

TO: DR MANFRED.

DATE (19/7/XXXX)

UPDATE ON LIVIS CONDITION:

I'M SORRY TO INFORM YOU BUT AS YOU WERE AWARE THE TREATMENT STOPING LIVIS FROM CHANGING INTO A KING WAS STARTING TO LOOS IT EFFECTIVENESS. AROUND A MONTH AGO IT FULLY STOPPED WORKING AND HE IS NOW A XENOMORPH KING BUT DON'T WORRY, IT SEEMES HE HASEN'T TURND INTO A MINDLESS BEAST AND STILL RETAINS HIS REASINING. IT LOOKS LIKE HE HAS MADE A DEAL WITH THE FACILITY TO GIVE THEM QUEEN JELLY AND THIS STRANGE BLACK GOO EVEN I WAS UNAWARE OF. LIVIS MEMORYS STILL SEEMED TO BE LOCKET AWAY SAFE AND SOUND JUDING BY HIS WIILLINGNESS TO WORK WITH THE PEOPLE BUT WE HAVE SENT THAT EMAPTH AND PLAN TO HAVE HIM CHECK HIS MIND.

SORRY BUT I JUST GOT IMFORMED THAT LIVIS WAS ATTAKED BY THE PREDATOR SPECISE AND IS CURRENTLY BEING LOOKED AFTER BY THE QUEEN. IT SEEMS SHE HAS PUT HIM IN SOME SORT OF CACOON WHICH SEEMES TO BE HEALING ANY DAMAGE DONE TO HIM. HE SOULD WAKE UP TO FIND HIMSELF IN A HIVE ENVIROMENT WHICH WE ARE CURRETLLY LOOKING INTO GIVVING THE XENOMORPHS AND MAY EVEN HOLD SOME INTRESTING RESULTS.

P.S.: IT LOOKS LIKE LIVIS HAS IMPREGANATE HIS GIRLFRIEND AND IS EXPECTING TO GIVE BIRTH SOON SO CONGRADULATIONS!

…

As Manfred read Kroger's message, it felt like he was being dragged by an emotional roller-coaster. At first, he was terrified at the fact that Livis has fully transformed into a xenomorph king but when he read the part about retaining his mind he was joyed and the fact that he was even looking to help both species. And then he read the part about the Predator attack. Manfred prayed that Kroger would be right in assuming that he would wake up fully healed but something felt off about the fact that it seemed the queen had placed him in a cocoon. And then the part that Livis was having a child made him feel extremely happy but then he felt memories flash of what happened to veronica. What about the girlfriend? What happened during Livis birth he would never want anyone to experience ever again.

Manfred pulled himself from his thought and decided to send a mission report first before talking about Livis.

…

TO: DR KROGER.

DATE (2/8/XXXX)

PROGRESSS REPORT:

WE ARE CURRENTLY ONE DAY AWAY AND THE MARINES ARE CURRENLTY LOADING THE DROP SHIP READY FOR TAKE OFF WHICH I THINK WAS JUST COMPLETED.

I HAD THAT VISION AGAING AND IT WAS STRONGER THAN USAL. PROBABLY BECAUSE WE ARE CLOSER TO WHAT I PRESUME IS THE SOURCE. THE THING SHOWED ME A PICTURE OF WHAT LIVIS CURRENTLY LOOKS LIKE. I CAN ONLY HOPE WE CAN FIND A WAY TO CURE HIS CURRENT PERDICAMENT OR AT LEAST FIND ASWERS TO WHAT CAUSED IT IN THE FIRST PLACE.

I DON'T KNOW HOW LONG THIS MESSAGE WILL TAKE TO REACH YOU BUT I CAN ONLY HOPE IT IS SOON. CAN YOU GIVE ME A REPORT ON LIVIS AND TELL ME HOW HE AND HIS SON IS? O AND MAKE SURE HIS GIRLFREND IS OK, THAT WOULD BE MUCH APRICTED THANK YOU.

P.S: TRY TO KEEP SPEARS OUT OF THIS AS BEST YOU CAN. WE DON'T NEED HIM FUCKING ANYTHING UP OR RISKING THE LIVES OR L'IVIESSS AND THE ONES AT THE FACUILTY.

…

He quickly checked over it before finally pressing send. He sat there for an hour, engulfed by the shadowy, shroud of silence until something rudely disrupted it all with three distinct nocks. At first he tried to ignore it, wanting to be left alone but however was at the door was not giving up. Who ever was at the door was not taking the hint.

Reluctantly Manfred scraped himself from off the char and opened the door only to find Duke? "what are you doing here?" Manfred questioned him hoping for an answer.

"I'm here about L'iviesss." He simply replied. Manfred stepped back and beckoned for duke to enter the room. He seemed to examine the small quarters before he sat down on the synthetic leather couch. There was a silence in the room for just a split second before a single word left their mouths. "how is he?"

The question made Manfred want to lie but he couldn't bring himself to do it "well I think he's fine judging by the email Kroger sent around a month ago." The moment Manfred mentioned that name he noticed Duke cringe a little. "what's wrong?"

"that son of a bitch had my friend kidnaped and used for incubates." Duke reply almost felt distant "I didn't even know that until I had tried to contact Marvin only to find that he had been dead for a two years as well as the rest of them."

Manfred remembered watching what happened from a terminal with tears in his eyes at L'iviesss pleads to spare them. "how was he when you first met him?"

"just like any teen his age?" he paused for a moment "But there was something off about him, I mean don't get me wrong he saved my ass more than once but… there were these two xenos he seemed to be friends with but they got captured by Kroger when they arrived and when he found them dissected…" a grimace look seemed to scar his face "something triggered in him and by the time we had caught up with him he had killed the scientists that did it in an almost psychopathic way."

Manfred just seemed to think back to every surveillance feed he had seen as well as the distant screams of tera flow down the deep, damp, corridors of that god forsaken hive as well as the queen bitch that had spoken to him; she had probably manipulated L'iviesss into the monster he nearly turned into and is probably now. When he watched the cams of the berserker, he was grateful that something had caused it to malfunction and killed her but at the same time… The amount of physical and emotional pain it caused L'iviesss was almost unbearable to watch.

"how was he before he ran away?" Duke questioned.

"he was just like any other teen with a good sense of sarcasm as well as the ability to care… I just wonder if I had told him what was on that station then maybe this all would be different." Manfred said in a regretful tone.

"things happen one way or another. His father seemed to be waiting for him patiently, setting up thing like the cult ready for his arrival."

Manfred just stared at him with a dumfounded expression "cult?"

"he had been indoctrinating people with these dreams to try and turn them into his and by extension L'iviesss followers… or slaves depending on how you look at it, ready to be used by them as cannon fodder or worse." Duke explained before suddenly asking a question of his own "why are we here?"

"well…" Manfred was a little nerve to tell him that the entire reason why there here is because of some vivid visons. "because of Livis."

"why, what's wrong with him?"

"He's turned into a xeno king and I am hoping that what ever is calling me to this planet with these visions has something to help him."

Duke realized something at that point "it's not an actual transmission is it?"

"Kroger seemed to think it some sort of being… how much do you know about the earth infestation?" Manfred enquired.

"biotech international decided it would be a good idea to hold an queen on earth that was eventually able to infect some cultist that were able to get away but that's it. if john was here than I am sure he would have a better explanation." Duke remembered how when they were younger, they would go drinking together.

"well do you know about a woman called Ellen Ripley?"

"didn't she find a way to save earth?"

"well she and a few others seemed to be having these dreams which were caused by a queen mother."

Duke didn't know a lot about xenos but he knew that a queen was bad news except from the rare occasion where they are not looking to absolutely fuck your shit up. "maybe we can get a don't molest me card from L'iviesss." He chuckled trying to down play the severity of what that meant.

"maybe but we have to be extremely careful, I mean god only knows what's down there."


	3. Chapter 2: ready for the big drop?

**Chapter 2: ready for the big drop?**

Manfred sat it the dropship, desperately clinging onto the cage that would stop him from falling out or worse. Many of the grunts were laughing and joking while some seemed to join Manfred in this terror with them all letting out silent prays. The already tight claustrophobic hold of the dropship was only amplified by the IRC compression suits that restricted movement around his joints; making it feel like a serpent was trying to cut of blood flow in his joints. Light on the inside of the helmet seemed to flash as if it was trying to warn of the unknown, impending danger on this planet.

"is everything strapped down ready?" one of the piolets asked through the intercom, it didn't help that his voice had a hint of anxiety to it that only unnerved Manfred more.

"strapped down and ready to take an express elevator to hell!" Dutch said with a hint of sarcasm.

The dropship jolted and screamed forward before the feeling of being lowered slowly seemed to already mess with Manfred stomach and a warning siren seemed to sing it's ear bursting sirens.

"dropping in 3… 2… 1."

The sound of pressure being released before a mechanical clank as the main ship almost ejected the small and puny dropship out into the cold void of space. Manfred's head seemed to suddenly jolt in sudden, spiritic movement nearly making him hit the back of his head. Things calmed down for a second making Manfred think that was the worst of it over… and then the second pilot voice seemed to impale his sole. "beginning decent. Lets just hope all of you have fully digested your food."

_Don't throw up! Don't throw up!_ Manfred franticly told himself as he could feel a steady urge to releases whatever is in his stomach in his helmet. His grip titan of the retrains as he closed his eyes and put all his will power into not throwing up.

"you ok Manfred?" Duke asked seeing the petrified look plastered across his face. Manfred just nodded out of fear that the mere act of talking would drive him over the edge. "just breath and try to relax and remember, if you throw up you will have to deal with that after math for the rest of the mission.

_Thanks dick!_ Manfred whished he could say. He looked around at the rest noticing he wasn't the only one struggling. One of the grunts seemed to threw up a little in his mouth before painfully swallowing it down into his gut, ready to come back up again.

The two piolets seemed to be calm but by the looks on there faces they both seemed a little unnerved "dam it, how thick is this fog?"

"switch to thermal or use the radar." There was silence for a second "aren't we meant to be following a transmission?"

"they just gave me coordinates." The first piolet said. "had anyone actually listen to this transmission?"

"I think Manfred has." The second piolet replied. something on the monitor seemed to catch his eye causing him to lean in closer "is it just me or douse the ground look off?"

"some parts look like, like I don't know."

"what the hell is that!"

There was a electronic crackling sound before a wall of a deep blue electricity seemed to pass through the dropship making most of the grunts snap out of the jockey mood. At first it seemed like it was nothing but everyone knew something was wrong when the sound of the engines seemed to go silent and monitors and light seemed to die out.

The piolets seemed to be frozen with fear before they quickly got out of there seat and pulled a lever. Emergency light came on, drowning everything in the thick red glow.

"were going to have to bale!" the two piolets said, pressing two buttons on a machine before two bright red buttons revealed themselves. They counted down on their fingers as the nose of the dropship began to drop "hold on everyone!"

they both slammed the buttons and before Manfred could realize what had happened, he was falling. He clung onto his seat as it did a summersault before it began to adjust itself, there was a sudden bang as a panel flung of and four ropes flung out, there was jolt as the parashot was finally able to catch enough air to start and slow him down. After the initial shock, Manfred was able to look around and see that close by Duke and Dallis were close enough to be vague outlines in the blinding mist.

"do you here me Duke?" Manfred said hoping for an instant response. Nothing. He was alone, isolated, terrified and confused. He looked down to see he was quickly dropping to the ground, _to quickly!_ He thought to himself in a panic. This was going to be a hard landing and there was nothing he could do about it except pray.

Thud! The metallic chare slammed into the ground, braking some of its underside as well some of the bolts that shot out of their homes with the ferocity of a bullet and hitting into the rocky floor. Manfred sat there for a second before hearing another thirteen thuds in quick succession.

He tried to get free of the tattered chare but it seemed the safety restraints was completely broken, trapping him in it grasp. "help!" Manfred bellowed. A humanoid figure seemed to slowly glide towered him. "over here!" he bellowed to it.

As the figure got closer and closer it seemed to twist and turn more and more. Its head slowly became elongated with what looked like the tips of dorsal tubes hanging just behind it. Its fingers were spindlier, ending in serrated claws and its legs seemed to twist and turn at unnatural angles. Manfred realized what it was, he realized how long he had left to live, he realised he couldn't save L'iviesss because he realized with mind numbing horror it was a xenomorph!

He began to thrash out of his seat the best he could, pulling at anything that seemed would loosen the death trap of a seat before throwing anything that he pulled off at the deathly creature which acted as if he had done thing more than fan a breeze towered it.

It grabbed the safety harness and tore it of in one quick motion. The xeno lowered its head close enough to his face that even through the thick, strong glass he could feel it scolding breath on his face as well as smell the sickening stench of death. Its hands seemed to clench onto his shoulders before hoisting him out of the seat and shoving him to the ground with enough force to have a distinct crack spread across what should have been enforced glass. It grabbed his ankle and began dragging him toward the direction that was probably its hive.

Manfred kicked, screamed and held onto anything that would stop it from talking him to certain death just long enough for any sort of help to arrive. It drove a claw deep into his ankle which forced him to let out a shrill growl of pain as blood trickled down his leg.

BANG! The sound of a gunshot ripped through whatever gas this planet has as a substitution for oxygen and the xenomorphs head seemed to break into small little fragments. It dropped to the ground making a sound similar to two plates being clashed together.

"you ok?" Dutch asked as the acidic smell assaulted their noses.

"my ankle." Manfred said trough gritted teeth.

Duke and dallies emerged from the fog with only one of them holding a pulse rifle with the ammo count of 49. "dam cheap ejector seat are a death traps." Duke huffed.

Manfred realised that that Dallies visor had been completely shattered with only jagged teeth left in the frame but he only seemed to have only a little trouble breathing "so oxygen then?"

"probably… there's something else that's irritating the hell out the back of my throat though." Dallies said, his voice already seemed strained.

"lets just hope that there isn't anything like super AIDS ay?" Dutch laughed trying to brighten the mood. "common there ten more over here." He said beckoning them all t follow him.

Dutch and Duke helped Manfred up and let themselves be used as supports for him seeing how his ankle had been mangled. "do we have anymore weapons?" dallies asked hoping for a good response

"well we have three more pulse rifles as well as your standard issue handgun but seeing as they are basically useless against xenomorphs hide then we might as well use them as rocks."

"what about extra clips?"

Dutch just shook his head. "let's just hope we have more round than they have numbers."

Ten grunts sat around in silence not saying a word until Dutch came into view "we heard gunshots, what happened?" a skinny grunt by the name of Baxter asked.

"well let's just say we got big black bugs."

"I fucking called it!" Garret shouted whilst trying to fix some sort of tracker.

"when your right your right." Burk replied. "why can't this mist just fuck of already?"

as if some deity had listened to him, the fog resided to the point where they could all see it! some sort of city like no other! Completely foreign, alien, unnatural in nature. huge towers seemed to be made up of a blacken steel with strange biomechanical patterns label all over them with very sexual monoliths scattered all over.

Ghostly black smoke seemed to raise from behind some smaller but just as unnerving structures.

"what the hell is that?"

"I don't know?" Manfred replied. he was lying to them because had had already seen it all in the strange visions. He could see the tower which would let out its blinding lights as well as the horrific sound but currently nothing emanated from it expect from a feeling of being watched that crawled up his spine like the spindly legs of a spider.

"well were stranded on a rock with no way off and are only hope is to wonder into an alien city were if you played a drinking game of all the phallic bullshit you would see then you probably would die in the fist five seconds." Dutch said. "what could go wrong?"

"we uncover some ancient race of Lovecraftian horrors that want nothing more that to ram there fits up are asses?" Burk replied.

"that turn out to be just tall albinos that actually created us?" garret laughed.

"let's get moving, I don't want to be here when more of the xenos decide to show up." Duke said looking in the distant jagged mountains behind them; he didn't know weather it was the mist but he swore they were pulsing in unnatural motions.


	4. Chapter 3: strands of exile

**Chapter 3 strands of exile **

They walked for around a mile on ground that looked like jagged steel with bit of half formed machinery growing out of it, it was almost as if the city had been spreading like some sort of fungus that had been killed long ago but still somehow showed its marks on the surface.

Manfred's ankle seemed to pulse with an unbearable pain as well as leave an easy to follow trail over this alien terrane. Everyone was on edge with their heads darting around at the slightest chance of possible movement. They expected a unimaginable hoard of xenomorphs to swarm from any nook and crane they could hide but nothing came. It just unnerved them more as it probably meant they were planning something.

As they finale reached into what could probably be described as some sort of street? The miasmic smell or rusted flesh and rotted steel seemed to hang in the mist; something had died… the only question is what? The vague path that headed in the direction of the remains of the crashed drop ship seemed to be made up of the bones of some ancient whale which caused people to stumble ever soften. Soon they were surrounded by these strange structures almost making it impossible to see the sky let alone the black smoke that would hopefully lead to their salvation.

Everyone froze still. There very limbs locked into place as what could only be described as a foghorn with an almost wet and diseased undertone seemed to blare from the tower in the distance. The only person who had heard it before was Manfred but even now it cuts an slashes right down to his core.

"what the hell was that?" dallies stammered kind of hoping for no one to respond.

"maybe it's a warm and loving welcome?" Dutch replied.

"or maybe it whatever the fuck that was ringing a dinner bell." Garret responded turning around and looking into an archway of a colossal silo of sort…. He could see something moving, something human? He flashed his flashlight into it only to see the Sargent laying still as the metal that surrounds him. He called for him but got no response. "Dutch, Burk and Duke follow me." He commanded not even waiting for their protests.

The room was small but doorways littered the rigged walls with some of them resembling a woman's scared passage way. "Sargent, can you hear me?" Duke repeated hoping for a response.

Dutch placed his fingers on the side of his neck. "it vague but there." He said in a relived tone.

A sharp hissing made Dutch and Duke swing around weapons drawn and ready to unload there one clip into whatever caused it.

"what the hell are you doing Burk?" Dutch growled at him.

"I didn't do anything! The door just opened and." He paused for a moment starring into the unknown "I think there a woman." Burk said.

Dutch causally turn into the archway to see something so repulsive that he wanted to throw up. There was indeed a humanoid woman but… her skin was attached or infused into a metallic casing that melded into her body with bits of tubes and wiring connected to her wrists, cheeks and breast which seemed to pulse as if they were pumping something into her. there seemed to be some plastic ceil covering her genitals but something which looked like a plastic ovipositor seemed have emerged out of her and hang over a still conveyer belt that hadn't looked like it had moved in centres.

"what the hell is that?" Dutch chocked.

The thing that could vaguely be described as a woman seemed to jolt to life with her steel grey eyes almost instantly opening and staring at him with an emotionless gaze. It just stared at him for a second, motionless and if it had just been brought back to life only to die after a few short seconds. It let out a metallic grown as the tubes and wiring seemed to pulse faster than before and her stomach an ovipositor began to swell. A wet gargling sound emerged from the ovipositor and some malformed creature seemed to pop out the other end.

Dead.

It was malformed beyond belief but a distinct trunk seemed to connect itself to its face all the way down to it chest.

A second creature emerged a lot more alive as well as hostile. It almost looked like a chest buster with a more eel like appearance slithered out. A alarm seemed to blear before a metallic arms picked it up and carried it off to some unknown destination.

"lets get the fuck out of here." Dutch said almost wishing for a flame thrower and torching ti all to sunder.

* * *

Manfred was sitting down on the side of some sort of strut when Duke, Dutch and Burk emerged from the structure carrying the body of the Sargent out of the building.

"lets get a move on." Dutch said "I don't want to be on this planet any longer."

Baxter and Dallies grabbed Manfred by the shoulder and helped Manfred onto his injured foot. His ankle still hurt like hell fire but if he wanted to help L'iviesss then he would have to power on through. They continued down the street until they came up to some sort of junction… it looked like they had found the source of the smell.

Bodies litters the street in some sort of perfect circle. all of them with the signature hole in their chest caused by a xenomorph. Most seemed to be in a kneeling position while other didn't even have knees and seemed to be in some sort of four-wheel contraption, almost looking like they were grown into it. they all had the strange trunks connected form their chest to the centre of their faces which Dutch and Burk had already seen.

"what the hell? COUGH! COUGH!" the smell was almost unbearable causing some of the grunt to gag and heave.

"there are thousand of them if not more… all of them with a hole in the chests." Duke stuttered.

"is it just me or douse it look like some sort of mass suicide? Like they have done this willingly." Garret observed noticing how most seemed completely relaxed.

"I don't care!" Dutch growled "lets get t the dropship and get the fuck of this planet."

They all took of in the direction of the smoke. Manfred thought by the speed they were all traveling that they would leave him as well as Dallies and Baxter behind but they would always stop for a second giving them enough chance to be just close enough at the back.

When they finally reached their detonation many of the grunts let out a sigh of relief; and then they saw the to bodies of the piolets who had been catapulted out of the cockpit and left nothing more than a bloody smear on the cold metal floor. One of there faces seemed to cave in on itself while the second was completely decapitated, his head spilt open like a bloody melon. Everyone else who hadn't been with the main group were dead inside the hold of the dropship. They had all been impaled on metallic beams or crushed in a pile in the corner.

"is there anything that can be salvaged?" duke asked.

Dutch slid into one of the piolets seats and began to mess around with some of the button. "looks like we have a weak signal with the main ship. I should be able to send a command to it to send one of the back up dropships."

"you hear that people? Were saved!"

Everyone was in the middle of a cheer when the unnerving fog siren rang out, silencing everyone in a second. Nothing happened for what felt like an hour before something occurred. A blinding green light seemed to shoot out of the mane tower and into the sky! disappearing behind the clouds. They couldn't hare it but they could Shure as hell see it. there only hope of escaping this planet let alone the system had been blown up as if it was nothing more than gasoline filled barrels.

"please don't tell me that is what I think it is." Baxter said, his face had drained of all colour leaving a pale white.

"that's where we left it." Garret said.

"The Imperium was built to withstand a fucking direct nuke to its hull!" Dutch choked. "and it just tuck it out with the equivalent of a fucking laser pointer!"

"well fuck this! just when we thought we were home free we get shagged by god!" Dutch began to have a mental break down "I just wanted some salvage and we get fucked some jackass in a tower!" he turned around and glared at were the tower with enough hatred to vaporize steel. "oy dick head can you here me?! Fuck you and the toaster you emerged from you cunt! I will."

His brake down was cut off by a green beam that pierced his chest, turning his internal organs to ash. At first, he just looked down and tried to touch hit torso before falling back dead.

"holy shit!"

Everyone dived for cover and seemed to just freeze. There leader had been killed as if he was nothing more than an inconvenient bug. Manfred and Duke was able to brake his gaze and regained control of their minds.

"what are we going to do?" Duke asked not really having any ideas.

"well I have an idea but… no one will like it." Manfred let out a deep huff "we got to the tower."

"it destroyed The Imperium as well as kill Dutch! And you want to go towered it?" Burk scoffed.

"what else can we do?"

"well we got guns." He pulled a pistol from his holster and placed it under his jaw before placing it back on the floor.

"well I ain't going out like a bitch." Garret said.

An argument sprung out with some just wanting to end it while the others wanted to push on and find out what the hell did this to them. They were so caught up in this full-blown argument that only Dallies was the only one to notice a sea of black shapes that seemed to swarm over the distant mountains.

"we have to go now!" Dallies said grabbing Manfred by the shoulders and helping him up.

"how many?" Manfred stammered finally noticing the black mass that was flooding over the hills and was quickly approaching.

"more of them than we have bullets now let's get the fuck out of here now!"

BANG! Burk slumped to the floor with a hole in the side of his skull.

"shit!" duke said as his blood splattered his visor.

They all turned and ran as fast as they could towards the tower, Manfred would check behind them only to fined them getting closer and closer. fatigue started to settle in everyone as the suits pure bulk and weight began to accelerate the fatigue that was taking over their bodies. "just a bit further!" Duke said with one of Manfred's arms over his shoulder and a pulse rifle raised with his right. "just remember why you're here!"

Manfred thought back to L'iviesss, he would help him! He would save him!

They reached another intersection when a horde of xenomorphs came in from the front, blocking their path, it was a god dam ambush! Duke let go of Manfred and sprayed his entire clip into the endless horde. Some broke apart in a spray of bullets while some just seemed to power through the pain, leaving a thick trail of acidic smoke.

Everyone stood in a defensive cercal, any thing that they could be used as a weapon was held in their hand ready for use, everyone expected them to just swarm them but they just seemed to stand there, glaring at them with a murderess intent.

"what are they waiting for?" Manfred asked.

The ground seemed to shake as a malice presence swept over them. Everyone's heart drooped when they saw her standing there in all her twisted glory. It was a queen mother! Just glaring at them as if she was waiting for something. Her ragged breathing seemed to drown every other sound in the area, letting a thick sheet of deathly silence swept over everything; not even their own pulses could be herd. She seemed to be examined them all as if it was trying to pick them out or looking for an individual.

Bothe Manfred and Duke felt her mind force its way into their memories and read them like a shredded book. She found grate interest in Dukes run in with M'ongtesss but when she saw Manfred and L'iviesss her emotions seemed to shift into one of… Want?

"what are they waiting for?" Garret questioned.

The queen mother seemed to let out a sound that could be vagally described as a laugh before lifting its hand and pointing directly at Manfred and Duke. Four Pretorian guards seemed to slowly approach from the crowed and pulled Manfred and Duke towered their empress. They struggled the best they could, lashing out and trying to wiggle free from their grip as if they were eels trying to escape the captors but it was useless but nothing happened.

Baxter tried to hit them with an empty pulse rifle but five drones seemed to surround him in an instant. He disappeared under there black limbs with the only part of him that were shown were the spurt of blood as well as torn flesh and limbs that were flung into the air.

Duke was forced to his knees while Manfred was held up by the oxygen tank on his back. The queen mother seemed to lower her head closer to Manfred before taring of the helmet. His eyes began to water from the pure stench that assaulted his nose. Death, rot, decay, rust; all burned his senses as he threw up.

The empress just did her distorted laugh. Manfred clenched his fist before delivering a blow to the side of her jaw in an attempt to make her back away from him. all it did was cause a cut to form on his knuckles from one of her teeth that seemed to protrude out. The queen mother lunged forward, causing Manfred to let out an audible yelp.

A cold darkness took over him and his vision faded.


	5. Chapter 4: bio tapestry

**Chapter 4: bio tapestry.**

Duke was in his apartment on New Galveston. Sunlight beamed it's loving glow through the thin steel blinds. He saw his lucky hat and jacket wresting on the stand were he normally placed them. he saw his and Charlottes honeymoon photo that was taken on earth on a jaw dropping beach with only one oil rig of in the distance. The front door opened and Charlotte stepped in with her metallic grin spread across her face. the room begins to darken as black tendrils begin to block out the sunlight, creating an artificial twilight. Duke stepped forward and took her in his loving embrace; her skin felt a lot better than last time he had felt it, instead of being a soft and weak it was firm, hard and a lot more rigid with what felt like wiring going up the side of her neck. Duke lovingly gazed into her empty eye sockets, located behind the transparent dome. She was magnificent in every way.

A cold unforgiving darkness surrounded Manfred. He could feel their gazes casting judgment upon him. all he wanted to do was help L'iviesss but they didn't view it like that; to them he had denied them a worthy king and wanted nothing more than to tear him apart but it didn't allow that to happen, it needed him but they didn't know what for. Manfred tried to move but the mere wait and scale of the hive mind froze him in place. He tried to focus his vision but the only things he could focus on were there vampiric teeth that even now seemed to have an unnatural distorted glow.

"_why do you try to deny the inevitable_?" the voice was feminine with a damp, distorted undertone, hatred seemed to pore from every word. "_even now you think you can halt or reverse his change_."

"I just wanted to protect him!" he replied.

A barrage of deep aggressive hisses and screeches hit his senesce casing him to reel back in pain "_how is mangling his body and mind protecting him?_" _she snarled "how is letting The Destroyers watching over him help?_"

A scorching heat smothered his face, he knew she was probably mere inches away from her face and was ready to plunge her inner jaw through his fragile skull.

"I made a promise to veronica before she died… I promised her to keep him safe, to give him a Normal life."

"_you kept him away from us! You tried to manipulate him every chance you get!_" she paused in her rant for a second before a sadistic smile filled to the brim with malice's intent spread across her face. she disappeared from sight, leaving an empty void which a familiar figure quickly filled.

His once jet-black hair had been replaced by a jagged crest made for pounding flesh into pulp. His eyes were completely gone with the only vague human feature was the metallic, jagged, teeth. He was completely alien but he knew who it was.

"_is this just another fucked dream or remines of some sort of memory?_" L'iviesss huffed looking around not really noticing Manfred. He took a step to the right which made the ethereal ground underneath them shudder.

"L'iviesss." Manfred said.

In an instant L'iviesss head shot towards him and glared at him with enough hatred to kill a god. a steady flow of drool seemed to flow in between his teeth and down his chin. In a split second L'iviesss had lunged for Manfred and shoved his hand through his abdomen. Even though it was a dream Manfred to still feel the pane it would have caused him. "_I remember everything you, spears and that basted Kroger did to me!_" he snarled at him.

Manfred just closed his eyes and let a tear flow down his cheek "I'm sorry."

"_sorry?_" L'iviesss scoffed "_you had my queen killed! Mangled my mind and body, making me into a slave trying to get as much research out of my own kind as you could!_" his claw penetrated his hart before dragging it out and devouring it. "_let's see how you like it._"

Manfred felt resin hooks pierce into his skin before pulling back! It was tearing his skin away from his flesh in large meaty chunks. Manfred let out a scream of pure agony.

"your mother told me to protect you!"

The hooks dug into his shoulder, suspending him in the air allowing L'iviesss to just admire the pain he had caused him and was ready to cause more. Manfred felt something sharp dig into the back of his neck which began to slowly drag itself down. he realised what L'iviesss was doing with a sense of horror and dread… he was skinning him! before Manfred could let out a scream ir pain the bladed tip of his tale had already done enough damage to leave his spine exposed. L'iviesss grabbed the separated strands of flesh and pulled as hard as he could.

Manfred awoke from the visceral nightmare screaming to the point where it turned into a bloody gargle. he began to stroke his arms which seemed to suffer from a phantom pain. _Was that really L'iviesss?_ He thought to himself; he didn't want to believe it but he knew deep down it was. He was so caught up in thought that he didn't realise his suit and been torn from his body. He quickly looked around to see that the queen mother was standing in the corner of the room with a smug sense of satisfaction on her face; four praetorians stood at what was probably the exit. He finally notices Duke had not awoken yet and was still in a dream. Manfred pulled himself onto his unsteady feet before stumbling over to duke.

"hey can you hear me?" Manfred questioned him as he shook his shoulder.

Duke shot up striate, his breathing came in an almost spiritic and rugged tone. "it wasn't real." he told himself "it wasn't real."

"are you ok?" Manfred said a little worried.

"fuck the dam dreams." Duke exhaled. "isn't your leg meant to be mangled?"

Manfred looked down to see that his once mangled ankle had fully healed with only a clear viscous fluid layered over it. he ran two of his fingers over it and rubbed it between his fingers. Hot and sticky like some sort of drool?

"well at least I can walk on my own now so that's good… were the hell are we?" there was no source of light in the room but they could still see. As if it was midday with the sun only starting its retreat for behind the horizon so that the moon could take its place.

"well were ever we are I am assuming that is the exit." Duke said, pointing towards an archway were the four praetorians stood; observing them just like the queen mother. "why haven't they killed us yet?" that fact worried him more than if he had woken up bound to the wall with an egg at the base because at least then he knew it was game over.

Manfred shrugged his shoulders noticing that the only other exit was on the other side of the room. They were about to go through there when the Empress let out what sounded like a slightly annoyed hiss. Manfred turned around to see she had her long spindly fingers pointing towards the far side of the wall.

"the hells her problem?" Duke asked seeing its annoyed posture.

Manfred followed were her fingers lead and realized that she was pointing at Images carved into the wall with vague words or runes which seemed to cover the bottom of the tapestry. Manfred was shocked and confused to find out that he could understand it? it was as if something was feeding him the knowledge to vaguely translate it.

"there were two groups of us," Manfred read not really caring weather Duke had any idea what he was on about. "the Biosectuse wanted to help preserve and improve other species while the other were just interested in one thing. War. Every time the Biosectuse found something that could be used as a weapon the others decided to forcefully take it from them! Leaving entire city's destroyed in their wake. One day the Biosectuse found a planet with something they saw with so much potential that they did everything in their power to keep it hidden from them in a vain attempt to gather as much information on this strange species." There was the name of something which he was able to interpret as Xenomorph, the name was located upon a large mural with images of hundreds of thousands of xenomorphs all swarming underneath this strange horse shoe UFO. "we were able to capture some specimens and began to immediately work on improving and evolving these fascinating creatures. Unfortunately for the…" there was some symbolise but they were beyond his comprehension. "some sort of genetic disorder was found in every member of there species which meant any attempt to reproduce would miscarriage, creating these malformed beings that died within second after birth… if they made it that long. with no other choice the Biosectuse decided that if they were going to die then they would leave behind a race to surpass them. They worked hard and as fast as they could improving and adapting them but they couldn't change two things from them; there aggressiveness as well as there reproduction cycle. They wanted to change it so they would hatch striate from the egg but it always ended up with twisted abomination that were torn to shreds by the hive. If they couldn't change that then they would have to find a compromise. They searched multiple different planets for suitable life forms and came up with three." Manfred only recognised one of those names, it was earth! "we were so close to perfection it and creating the magnumopes of there species but then they interfered taking the eggs, research, specimens! We pleaded with them to stop and let us finish are work but they just laughed at us, not believing that are species would die out. Luckily, we were able to keep this city hidden from them and as honour to are creations we called the city Xeno Morpheus. Here we worked trying to create something that would help them to control their wicked nature…"

the text abruptly stopped but what it showed next was a horrific but at the same time all inspiring creature that was suspended by a thick blue liquid. At first Manfred would of just assumed it was a regular king but its crest seemed more elaborate the more you stared at it with intrinsic details all over it. it wasn't a king, it was a emperor or king father! It was dead, it had been for a long, long time but bits of tubing connected it to the base of the container that probably preserved it.

The queen mother got up from her resting place and walked over to the test tube. It's face seemed to stretch into one of longing. It placed one of its hands on the glass and began to let out a deep purr. Manfred didn't know how but he knew what the queen mother wanted. It was L'iviesss! Manfred clenched his fist in anger and began to feel his blood boiling.

"you will never get your filthy claws on L'iviesss you dirty little she bitch!" he growled.

The empress just looked down at him with a defiant look that just spewed spite.

Manfred uppercut the bitch as hard as he could but all he ended up doing was bruising his knuckles. The empress let out a sound similar to a scoff before backhanding him with enough force to send him sprawling across the floor. Before Manfred could recover, he felt something heavy pressing against his chest. The empress has placed her right foot down with enough force to make it difficult for him to breath.

"bringing it! I got nine lives and a can full of-" before Manfred could finish his threat the queen mother had forced his mouth open and jammed her inner jaw into his mouth, making him almost choke. Manfred began to gag as clumps of slaver went down his throat with every attempt to breath. A burning sensation hit the back of his throat casing Manfred to let out a gargled scream of agony. _What the hell did she do?_ He thought to himself, _it feels like she's just pored battery acid down my throat!_ it wasn't a lot but it was enough to cause an incredible amount of pain. The only thing he was able to spit out was this black goo but what ever she did was currently being digested in his stomach.

She stepped back allowing Duke to make sure he was ok. The queen mother picked him up and held him in the air for a second as if examining him. "_you have already felt are touch psychologically but…_" she grabbed his jaw and forced it open before slamming her inner jaw into his mouth. He imminently felt the burning sensation and began to hold onto his throat and gag.

"what did you do?" Duke gasped.

"_you will see_." She chuckled to herself.

The pain finally stopped for the both of them bit what ever she did to them wouldn't. Manfred could feel it forcefully running through his veins creating a slight tingling sensation. He just hoped whatever it was wouldn't be permanent.

The queen mother razed her finger once more and pointed towered the unguarded arch. Manfred and Duke both looked at each other as they scrambled to gather the courage they needed. They both walked through the strange arch way and down a corridor were it almost looked like the walls were pulsating in a steady rhythm movement, almost as if it was breathing. They entered into a vast chamber with what looks like some sort of creature that had been grown into what looked like a chair with an almost phallic gun? Pointing towards the celling. At first, he thought it was dead, judging buy its skeletal appearance but then it's head seemed to cock itself towards them and just stare at them with its sunken, Emotionless, dead, robotic eyes that seemed to just look past them.

"**hello Manfred**." The deep, commanding voice reverberated inside Manfred's mind, setting of every warning he had. The hair on his arms stud up like a jackrabbits ears getting ready to bolt at the first possible sine of danger, his spine seemed to freeze as the feeling of thousands of tiny spiders scuttling across every nerve ending. He shot around only to be met with a creature similar to the one in the confined chair except it had legs with what looks like little rocket thrusters that had been grown or infused with his ankles. "**I am Kil'thrensus and as far as I am aware one of the last surviving races of my species**."

"Why did you shoot down are only way of leaving this system and What the hell do you want with L'iviesss!" Manfred growled at what he would consider a revolting creature with nothing natural about it.

"**I needed your DNA as well as the exact location of L'iviesss and I couldn't have you reporting what you found here**."

"but what about L'iviesss? why do you want him?"

Kil'thrensus seemed to stroke its trunk which connected itself from the ridge at the ceinture of his brow all the way down to his chest. "_I need to finish my magnum opus_." He simply stated "**now give me the exact coordinates of L'iviesss.**" his voice seemed to have a hell-bent tone to it.

"will you cure him?" Manfred enquired with a hopeful look on his face.

"**cure him?**" Kil'thrensus seemed to confused by his question.

"turn him back to a human." Manfred snapped at him.

"**he was never human to begin with**." Kil'thrensus simply stated "**I just want to fix up his genome so that he can become the xenomorph emperor I designed him to be.**"

"what?" Manfred gasped as thousand of confused questions swirled in his mind.

The thing began to let out a sound similar to a laugh "**do you really think he was human? That was just a by-product of how he was conceived as well as to manipulate you into looking after him because of how long it would have taken for him to fully mature.**" He just shook his head before pulling out something similar to a cybernetic leach "**Now give me your blood as well as his location now.**"

Manfred began to slowly take a few steps backwards, nearly tripping over Duke who seemed to be in some sort of catatonic state. "what did you do to him?"

"**I didn't do anything. It was her**." Kil'thrensus snorted.

Manfred whipped around to see the queen just smiling at him. he tried to run but his legs seemed to be locked in place. It wasn't just fear that had caused him to freeze up, it was the empress! Manfred tried to block her out but her voice just weaved its way into the back of his mind "_please Manfred_" the empress pleaded "_do as he asks. You want to help L'iviesss right_?"

Her week please became stronger and more demanding and with growing horror he knew her please were some how working on him. "no!" he bellowed.

He felt her cold dead hand brush up against his face which seemed to let off a wave of affection which Manfred liked? "_please Manfred_" she said "_do it for veronica, do it for L'iviesss… do it for your queen._" He closed his eyes but that only made things worse. Under the blanket of darkness created by his shut eyelids, he could see veronica and a human version of L'iviesss begging and pleading for him to tell the queen mother whose presence was starting to destroy any resistance Manfred would put up.

"I can't!" Manfred cried.

"_SHH!_" she lovingly cooed into his mind "_if you tell me then we can help him_."

"no!"

"_do it for L'iviesss, do it for me_!"

Manfred free will finally snapped under the overwhelming presence of the queen mother. "Astronose on a research centre called ascension one." Manfred was pulled out of the trance the queen had put him under only to find that the creature had finished extracting the DNA from his shoulder.

The creature turned to the thing in the chair and seemed to say something in there native tong before he disappeared down the corridor leaving Manfred and duke under the whim of the queen mother. Manfred could only hope that he and duke would make it back to Astronose alive and not just end up as another host for the xenomorphs. the praetorians grabbed Manfred and duke and began to drag them towards the depths of the ship were a cavernous cargo hold seemed to stretch on for miles on either end. A blue sea of mist seemed to cover most of the floor which seemed to let of a low buzzing sound when broken by the slithery tails of the beats.

They were quickly bound to the wall but some how the queen mother made it clear to Manfred that they wouldn't be used as hosts for now but a surprise for L'iviesss. Manfred could only hope that L'iviesss had forgiven him for everything that he had done… he just wanted to help him.

…

Kil'thrensus walked down the boned corridors of the ship with a giddiness he hadn't felt in millions of years. He was so close to completing his kinds goal and wanted nothing more than to find L'iviesss and finish his magnum opus. His plan had taken so long to work but it would be worth it. no more sleeping in his hyper sleep chamber waiting for event to take place if they ever happen. Luckily for him though theses strange creatures were able to infest there planet which gave him the chance to influence a hive to carry out what was needed. This Manfred was a descendant of a human they were able to capture and slightly alter his DNA, a few years later a scientist was able to indirectly add back the king genome which his kind had not been able to fully implement Intime.

And then it happened, the moment he had been waiting for so, so long! a female ancestor of the original infected human seemed to have taken a liking to a captured king she was studying. he gave the command to the queen mother to tell the king to mate with this human and then after six months he was borne. He waited and waited, watching every new development with intrigue through the hive mind. the only down side was he didn't know were exactly he was. He tried to use the xenomorphs hive mind to track him down but it seemed even their advance biotechnology was just a mere speck, a small blip in comparison to the hive mind. he still didn't truly understand it complexity and probably never will. It saddened him to no extent but there was no point in morning over it.

Kil'thrensus entered his vast lab filled with so many small entrecote devises as well as huge twisted machines that seemed to surly be breathing. He walked over to a console and connected the leach to a little needle that began to make a sickly sucking sound, leaving the leach crumpled to the point were it began to crack and decay into dust.

A deathly green hologram appeared in front of him with runes and symbols that flashed in and out of existence. A 3D double helix formed in front of him before. He slid his hand into a access point and felt the sharp but delict needles shoot into his hand, forming this connection between him and the machine. It let out a deep warble as a worm welcome before he had full control of the systems. Kil'thrensus watch in amassment as the machine began to deconstruct Manfred DNA, ripping into to sunders before carefully reconstructing it._ 25% of xeno DNA… interesting_. Kil'thrensus thought to himself as it seemed the original descendant Alterations had passed down this far down in the bloodline, granted it wasn't as strong seeing how it was almost 48% but still enough.

He pulled his hand free with a reluctancy before turning back towered a faint hologram of his dead city at the craft exited orbit. He remembers watching high above the tower as the death of millions of his people occurred. He remembers the screams and wails of his kind but their agonizing sacrifice was worth it because through death there was life.


End file.
